The bill, H5258, which was filed on June 15 by Representative Francis Marini (R-Hanson), the House Minority Leader, called for Boston's teachers to transfer from the Boston Retirement System to the Teachers' Retirement System and the annuity savings fund of these teachers to be transferred from the Boston fund to the Teachers' fund.

After an initial hearing by the Public Service Committee, the Committee changed the language of the bill to read that the value of the long-term investment earnings of those teachers contained within the Boston pension fund also be transferred to the Teachers' fund. The bill was then placed on the House calendar where it sat when the session ended on July 31.

From the viewpoint of Boston, the original bill would have been a financial bonanza because the state would have picked up the unfunded liability of these teachers. But when Public Service called for a transfer of assets from the Boston fund, in addition to the annuity transfer, a whole new equation entered the picture. Exactly how much money would have been drained from the $3.1 billion Boston pension fund became a major concern to the city.

Although the bill died when the 1999-2000 legislative session ceased formal activity, there is widespread speculation that it will again surface, in one form or another, in the coming session.

"After a flurry of interest, everyone backed off from this bill for the time being," said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "From Boston's viewpoint, if structured properly - perhaps similar to the transfer of county employees - it could save money for the Boston fund. On the other hand, if a portion of Boston's assets were required to be liquidated in order to transfer cash to the state it could cause fiscal chaos for Boston. Either way, I don't think we've seen the end of this legislation."

Unlike all other public school teachers in the state who belong to the Teachers' Retirement System, Boston's teachers have always been an exception. Those teachers are members of the Boston Retirement System, the only local teaches who belong to their local retirement system. The Commonwealth is responsible for an annual appropriation of funds to Boston to cover the cost of pensions for retired Boston teachers.

According to Charlie Curran of the Boston Retirement Board, the acknowledged historian on teachers' pensions, a non-contributory Boston teachers pension plan - possibly the first in the country - was founded back in the 1870s. In 1923, a contributory retirement system was established for Boston employees, including teachers. When our statewide Chapter 32 retirement plan was accepted by Boston in 1946, teachers became members along with other city employees. There are currently 5,400 teachers in the Hub, approximately 25% of the retirement system's membership.